Home » Review: AMIDuOS – Bringing Android (Lollipop) to your Windows Machine

Review: AMIDuOS – Bringing Android (Lollipop) to your Windows Machine

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A lot of us like our Android devices, and kind of struggle with what is available on Windows devices, specially the phones and the tablets. While Windows 10 is looking to rectify this, the older systems that still run on Windows 8 or 8.1 lack a lot of apps that are easily available on Android. While an obvious answer is to get an Android tablet/device instead, it isn’t always practical. For you, there is AMIDuOS, which allows you to run Android as a virtual machine on your Windows desktop.

Features

  • Brings the basic functionality of Android to Windows 7, 8 or 10
  • Most apps run straight out of the box (click)
  • Comes with Amazon App Store installed, and there is a link to install Google Play
  • You can set your own resources (RAM/ROM)
  • Able to use all the hardware present on your Windows device, such as Bluetooth, camera, microphone, speakers, etc.
  • Allows you to share files between Windows and Android

Setup

Set up was fairly simple. You download the installer, run it, and off you go. Interestingly, I found that one of the PCs I tried this on had virtual machines disabled in BIOS, so I had to enable that first. Once it is downloaded, and installed, you are good to go.

Installing Google Play

While I am not sure why Google Play Store doesn’t come out of the box, it can easily be installed using the following link:

http://amiduos.com/nextsteps

Once it is installed, you need to reboot your ‘VM’, and it is there to be used.

Display Issues

One of the interesting things I noticed was that due to the high resolution of my Windows machine (1920 x 1080), everything on the Android display was quite small. You can change the display resolution though, so it isn’t an issue. You will need to restart the VM again though!

What works good?

It is good for tablets really. On a PC I found it worked, but I wasn’t really drawn to it. Most of what I would do on Android, I can do better on a full PC, apart from the Android apps. So, what was good? Games. Angry Birds. Instagram. That sort of stuff. It works best if your machine has a touch screen.

What wasn’t so good?

A few things. First was the display that got me, but I managed to fix that. The resources you share with your PC can seriously affect your experience, so remember to sort that out too. Using it on a device that wasn’t touch screen, it didn’t feel as good. Mouse and Angry Birds just don’t mix. So be aware that the experience may differ depending on your device.

What about developers?

I think that is where the strength of such a system will lie. If you are a developer, this is a must have.

Would you use basic apps like email or browsing via this instead of your PC?

I tried. Didn’t really get into it.

More information

More information as well as buying options can be found on the AMIDuOS website:

http://amiduos.com/

It retails for €15 for Android Lollipop and €10 for JellyBean. No word on Marshmallow yet.

Giveaway

AMIDuOS are also doing a giveaway for the software (2.0) right now:

http://ami.com/amiduos-win-a-free-amiduos-license/

Verdict

The AMIDuOS is a bit hit and miss for me. Not a lot I can complain about, but not a lot to get excited about either. It works, and if you have a use for it, it is great. If you don’t need it in your life, it won’t make any changes.

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